London’s office market take-up hits two year high of 3m sq ft, C&W finds

In its latest Central London Offices Marketbeat, C&W revealed that office take-up in the quarter was 25% up on Q2’s 2.4m sq ft and 24% ahead of the five-year average.

Meanwhile, the wider city saw 1.9m sq ft leased over Q3, with the West End taking 1.1m sq ft and east London taking the remaining 176,000 sq ft. Office take-up across the first three quarters totalled nearly 7.5m sq ft, up 11% year on year.

Banking and finance retook the top spot in Q3, replacing technology, which was the most dominant sector at the half-year mark with 31% market share for the year so far. However, the technology sector is still more dominant than the previous year, with a 20% market share in Q3, compared with just 7% in 2025.

Grade-A space came out on top of occupiers’ priority lists, accounting for 80% of take-up, equating to around 2.46m sq ft, 49% ahead of the five-year average. This brings total grade-A take-up to just shy of 6m sq ft across Q1 to Q3, up 19% year on year.

In August, C&W reported a 28% quarter-on-quarter rise in office take-up in Q2, broadly in line with the five-year average, while 77% of activity involved grade-A space. It added that space under offer across the central London office market has surged to its highest level since 2007, hitting 4.4m sq ft in Q2.

Rory Paton, co-head of city agency at C&W, said: “The increase in leasing activity points to a market where occupiers are showing greater conviction and moving decisively when the right opportunities arise.

“Demand remains firmly focused on best-in-class buildings and with much of the future supply already committed, competition for the highest-quality space is set to intensify.”

Chris Bennett, international partner and head of London offices capital markets at C&W, added: “UK investors are investing heavily and are showing renewed confidence in the London office market, particularly for small and medium lot sizes.

“Despite a relative slowing in overseas capital, they remain the dominant buyer of larger lot sizes of over £100m. Demand remains strong and, with £4.41bn of assets awaiting completion, there are  positive news stories for the market, and notwithstanding any significant macro shocks, this should carry through over the short-to-medium term.

“Although the recent rate rise saw the start of the rate-tightening cycle, this was already priced into market rates and should not impact on transactional activity.”

Prime office yields in the City were unchanged at 5.5% in Q3, while a 25 basis increase to 4% was seen in the West End, where pricing is expected to remain at the end of the year.